A PANDEMIC is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide or over a vast area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”.
Over the last three centuries, the outbreaks of H1N1 and H5N1 influenza, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as well as the recent novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have forced governments around the world to implement various measures to protect and prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
In Malaysia, these measures include movement control orders, restricted international travels, limited business operations, school closure and mandatory quarantine for the infected – all of which we have experienced since the first COVID-19 case was detected in the country in late January 2020.
Following our combat against COVID-19, the pandemic has brought about unprecedented and dramatic changes to the world. Like many industries, medical education has undergone a significant revolution amid the pandemic.
According to SEGi Group Managing Director Tan Sri Clement Hii, the journey to becoming a medical doctor remains challenging moving forward.
“While social distancing is considered the most effective preventative strategy until the development of a vaccine, treatment, or both, further actions are needed to combat present and future pandemics,” he commented.
“Hence, this calls for professionals in the medical and related fields to step up to the plate and be capable of handling any global health crisis.”
Still, there is a new meaning to the profession during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. Many medical schools began adapting to the new normal, teaching and conducting examinations online during the pandemic for the first time in their history.
Hii also urged that everyone re-look into the meaning of becoming a medical doctor, and stressed that now is an excellent time to study medicine.
“We need doctors, not just as clinicians to treat patients in the wards, but also as public health experts to strategise on the preventive measures in a demanding time like this,” he pointed out.
“Doctors as researchers are crucial in conducting fundamental and clinical research related to COVID-19 for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to fight the coronavirus.
“Taking the new coronavirus variant strains head-on with the next-generation vaccines and the quest for a curative treatment are equally relevant.”
Hii then added that doctors could also act as medical teachers to train tomorrow’s doctors and combat all other diseases besides COVID-19, and encouraged school leavers who are fascinated by the beauty of medicine to embark on a fulfilling journey of becoming medical doctors.
“This world needs caring doctors with kind hearts and healing hands, and you can be one of them!” For further information, please visit https://www.segi.edu.my/.
